Touki Toussaint's versatility needed commodity for White Sox pitching staff

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Touki Toussaint made 15 starts and four relief appearances in his first season for the Sox and was OK, posting a 4.93 ERA. Whether it earned him a spot in the rotation remains to be seen.

“I’d like to start but that’s not my call,” Toussaint said Sunday. “If I pitch out of the bullpen, I pitch out of the bullpen, if I get to start, I start.”

Multi-inning relievers have value in the age of five-inning starts, so pitchers like Toussaint, Jesse Scholtens, Jimmy Lambert, Chris Flexen and lefties Garrett Crochet, Jared Shuster and Tanner Banks with starting backgrounds or aspirations can serve well in relief.

"You need those couple guys to take the ball in a close ballgame and give us two or three innings," manager Pedro Grifol said. "Especially guys with his arsenal who can
actually navigate through a lineup a couple times."

“I’m here to compete,” Toussaint said. “I’m here to get some outs and do my job.”

Toussaint walked 5.6 batters per nine innings, also his average over six years in the majors, so his focus this spring – again -- is command.

“Trying to get my walks down and attacking hitters,” he said.

Senior adviser to pitching Brian Bannister talked to Toussaint the day 27-year-old got to camp, pointing out the pitch locations for his two-seamer that were most effective last season.

“He said, ‘Hey man I got some stuff for you, let’s look it over,’ and we’ve been working on it ever since,” Toussaint said. “And some minor things that will get me more in the zone and get more outs.”

In four relief appearances last season, Toussaint’s ERA was 2.13; in 16 starts, 5.45.

“It was a good experience,” he said. “The first time I got consistent starts and innings.”

Crochet’s live BP

Crochet, who is being stretched out as a starter but seems more likely to start the season in the bullpen, “really threw the ball well” in his first live batting practice Sunday, manager Pedro Grifol said.

“I was really encouraged by the way he threw the ball. He used all his pitches, he pounded the strike zone. It was a really good day for him.”

The Sox will be careful not to rush the former first-round draft pick, who has been slowed by elbow and shoulder injuries in the early stages of his career.

Shuster "impressive"

Shuster, one of five Braves acquired in the Aaron Bummer trade, called his opportunity to work his way into a Sox rotation “definitely exciting.”

“I’m really happy to be here, just taking it day by day.”

Shuster has thrown two bullpens and likes how the ball is coming out of his hand.

“I’m focusing on pretty simple stuff, on executing my pitches,” he said. “The shapes are good, just working on putting pitches in the right spots.”

A first-round draft pick out of Wake Forest in 2020, Shuster, 25, made the Braves Opening Day starting rotation last season but was out of it after two starts. He would make four starts in May, three in June and one in August and September and logging a 5.81 ERA in 52 2/3 innings. He wasn’t much better at Triple-A Gwinnett, posting a 5.01 ERA in 16 starts.

“He’s been impressive here,” Grifol said. “He’s a finesse guy that knows what to do with the baseball. Those guys throw quiet bullpens. You’ve really got to focus on what they get accomplished because he’s going from corner to corner and he’s doing what he needs to do to get himself ready. I’m looking forward to watching him perform against other uniforms.”